Author: Andrew Rogers

Sellers promote unlicensed weight-loss drugs through WhatsApp and Telegram giveaways.They offer injectable medicines as prizes. The Guardian found groups advertising retatrutide, an unapproved experimental drug.Posts pressure users to enter within 24 hours. Experts warn these promotions pose serious health risks.They misuse marketing tactics meant for consumer products. One group offered retatrutide, Glow pens, and melanotan II.None of these injectables have UK approval. UK law allows weight-loss injections only with prescriptions.Unapproved drugs cannot be legally sold or advertised. Another seller hides drug sales behind fitness coaching codes.Platforms say they ban illegal drug sales.

Researchers from Harvard University, University of Michigan, and Duke University argue ultra-processed foods resemble cigarettes more than real food.They say UPFs are engineered to drive addiction and overconsumption, causing widespread health harm.The study, published in Milbank Quarterly, highlights parallels with tobacco marketing and design.Researchers urge stricter controls, including marketing limits and industry accountability.Critics warn comparisons may overreach and say diet quality also matters.

Toto Wolff dismissed rival complaints over the legality of Mercedes’ 2026 engine.He insisted the power unit fully complies with regulations and FIA procedures.Rivals questioned Mercedes and Red Bull Racing for exploiting thermal expansion to boost performance.FIA discussed the issue but reached no resolution.Mercedes believe rivals missed an opportunity and should focus on themselves.Wolff did not rule out protests after the Australian Grand Prix but said Mercedes felt “robust”.

Researchers at the University of Sydney have recreated cosmic dust in a laboratory to study life’s origins.PhD researcher Linda Losurdo produced the dust by simulating conditions around dying stars.Cosmic dust contains organic molecules that form the building blocks of life.Scientists debate whether these molecules formed on Earth or arrived via meteorites.The experiment used plasma created by high voltage inside a vacuum tube.Researchers matched the dust’s infrared signature to real cosmic samples.The work could explain how meteorites acquired organic material.The study appeared in the Astrophysical Journal.

The Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply warned rising shipping costs could push up consumer prices in 2026.Its survey found growing supply chain disruption affecting computers, machinery, and transport equipment.Procurement teams reported the highest disruption concerns in two years.Shipping and logistics saw the steepest increases, with many costs rising over 10%.Price volatility now looks permanent amid geopolitical tension and trade uncertainty.CIPS said tariff risks and global instability could fuel further inflation for consumers.

West Ham United banned a season-ticket holder for five matches after he helped hold up an anti-board banner.Joshua Wood received a letter accusing him of breaching stadium rules on banner size.The banner read “Time 2 Sell – Name Your Price” and targeted the club’s owners.West Ham said the issue concerned safety regulations, not the protest message.Wood denied bringing the banner into the ground and plans to appeal the ban.

A Swedish trial found AI-supported breast cancer screening reduced later cancer diagnoses by 12% and improved early detection.Researchers studied 100,000 women in Sweden who underwent AI-assisted or standard mammography screening.The AI system flagged high-risk scans and supported radiologists in identifying suspicious findings.Results published in The Lancet showed higher early detection rates and fewer aggressive cancers.Experts say AI could ease radiologist workloads but should support, not replace, human expertise.

Google DeepMind launched AlphaGenome, an AI tool designed to identify genetic drivers of disease.The system analyses up to one million DNA letters at once to predict how mutations affect gene regulation.AlphaGenome focuses on the non-coding genome, which controls when and where genes activate.Researchers trained the model on large human and mouse genetics databases.Scientists believe the tool could accelerate cancer research and rare disease diagnosis.AlphaGenome may also support new gene therapies by helping design targeted DNA sequences.

Amazon has revealed a fresh round of global job cuts after an internal draft email was mistakenly sent to staff.The message, signed by an AWS executive, wrongly said affected workers in the US, Canada, and Costa Rica had already been informed.The layoffs, described as “Project Dawn,” target parts of Amazon Web Services and retail operations.Amazon has not confirmed the scale of the cuts but continues to trim its workforce after pandemic-era hiring.Chief executive Andy Jassy has warned AI could replace some white-collar roles.The news follows job-cut plans from United Parcel Service, which is reducing roles while scaling back Amazon-related deliveries.

Scientists have launched DinoTracker, an AI app that identifies dinosaurs from ancient footprints with about 90% expert-level accuracy.The team trained the system using 2,000 unlabelled footprint silhouettes instead of preclassified examples.The AI grouped prints by shared shape features, including toe spread, heel position, and ground contact.Researchers published the study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Steve Brusatte said footprint shapes reflect both anatomy and ground conditions.Gregor Hartmann said incorrect labels often mislead earlier AI systems.The app lets users upload footprints and compare them with similar examples.The AI supports earlier findings that some Triassic tracks appear surprisingly birdlike.Brusatte said the…